Romney Actively Sought Nugent Endorsement and Agreed to His Demands to Win It

Mitt Romney actively sought, and won, Ted Nugent’s endorsement in early March. According to a report in the Texas Tribune and Nugent himself, the two had a lengthy conversation about gun laws and the endorsement on March 2^nd.   Nugent made Romney pledge not to put any new restrictions on guns. Romney obliged:

It was on a phone call with the candidate earlier today that Nugent gave his blessing. He talked to Romney by phone while he was at a sporting goods store in Michigan "celebrating the orgy of guns and ammos and bows and arrows and camouflage clothing and hunting and fishing and outdoor family supplies."   Before endorsing him, Nugent demanded that Romney pledge there would be no new gun laws or restrictions on Second Amendment rights in his administration. Romney obliged. Nugent also warned Romney about the "out of control" U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.   "These are not Ted Nugent demands," he said. "They're logic demands. They're 'we the people' demands. They're right over wrong, good over bad."

Nugent later tweeted:     As Tommy Christopher over at Mediaite points out, presidential candidates can’t be expected to answer for everything their supporters say. However, it’s a different story when the candidate personally seeks an endorsement: “Mitt Romney shouldn’t have to answer for every idiotic thing ever said by a conservative, if only due to time constraints. However, it is fair to ask him if he agrees with those whose endorsements he has actively sought.”   It's time for Romney to address Nugent's extreme and violent rhetoric on his behalf at last weekend's NRA national convention. While rallying support for Romney, Nugent compared President Obama and Democrats to a coyote that needs to be shot, called President Obama's administration "vile, evil America-hating," and ended with a call to chop off Democrats' heads: "We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November."